


Murder Mysterysn't

by Segaco



Category: Original Work
Genre: Gen, Locked Room Mystery, Locked-room murder/Impossible crime, Murder, Silly
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-24
Updated: 2019-01-24
Packaged: 2019-10-15 15:22:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,600
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17531267
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Segaco/pseuds/Segaco
Summary: Five siblings live in a mansion far away from the nearest city. During a quiet summer night, one of them is found dead inside a locked room, the only key being inside with the victim.Luckily, the culprit and the trick they used are immediately identified. The problem is the killer still has the murder weapon on them, so the options until the police arrives are to either act like the culprit is not known or die.





	Murder Mysterysn't

With Thomas' help, I managed to break the door off its hinges. The moment the door fell onto the floor, we were greeted by an horrific sight: our sister, Thina, laid on the floor in a pool of her own blood. We could very clearly see the many bullet holes filled thorough her body and dress, blood still pouring out of them.

We had heard several gunshots coming from the room minutes earlier, reason for which we all reunited outside the door. Due to it being locked, we resorted to force... and this was the result.

"T... T-Thina?!" the three of us ran into the room and checked on our sister, but a quick inspection revealed her to have no pulse. I fell to my knees, "I... I can't believe this..."

In tears and grief, I began to shake her body to try waking her up, but all that followed was a 'clink'; a metallic sound that brought me back to my senses: a key had fallen out of Thina's pocket and onto the red carpet.

I stood up as my siblings cried and headed to the door with the key. The wooden door had been quite sturdy, but the lock itself had been left intact even after having been subjected to our barrage. After a few failed attempts, I got the key to fit and turned it. With that, the bolt retracted back into the lock.

The key was definitely the key to the room, not a fake. The only way to lock the door was with the key I was holding, so it was certain.

I turned back to my brothers weeping around the body with a look of realization in my eyes, which quickly turned to one of fear as I glanced around the room.

On the left wall, starting from the far back, was a bed, a bedside table and a wardrobe. On the right wall was a large mirror, a small chair and a desk with a closed laptop on it. Opposite to the door, like all other rooms, was a small window. I had given the latch a glance when I entered, and it was set.

From all those things, only one stood out. That is what made this situation rather worrying.

With nervous moves, I approached my siblings, calling out to one in particular, "...S-Sanya... are you alright...?"

"Oh Daniel, why did they do this?! Who would be so cruel to do this to our sister?!" she cried, throwing herself to my chest, "Why would they kill our Thina in such a way...?!"

I, too, felt the same, but there was something more pertinent than our sisters' death. I grabbed Sanya by the shoulders and urged her to leave, "I know... I promise we will catch whoever did this. For now, please go get Adrian... Tell him to call the police. Now, go!"

I pushed her out the room, and she took her time to even take a step. She did eventually leave. Now only Thomas and I were left. I crouched right next to him.

"They... They killed her with an automatic rifle!! They filled her with holes, dammit! I just can't believe it!" although Thomas' expression was one of sadness, one could feel the anger in his voice, "I will... I will murder whoever did this with my own hands!!"

"Thomas... We will! But first, do you have..." I leaned over to whisper in his ear, "...your revolver here?"

"Why are you asking? Yes, I carry it with me all the time! The last thing I want is to end up unarm--"

I put my palm over his mouth, then closed Thina's eyelids when I noticed they were open. Her expression was one of surprise and shock... she certainly did not expect to die like this during such a beautiful summer night.

Thomas aggressively shoved my hand off his face, "The killer mustn't be far! We must find him and shoo--"

I shut him up again and went on, "Thomas, the door and window were locked. The *only* key was in her pocket--"

"Our sister died, Daniel! That has nothing to do with this!"

"You moron! Shut up! If everything was locked the killer must still be in the room!"

Thomas stopped himself from saying anything else and stared. He then turned from the broken down door to the bed. From our position we would have seen if anyone was under. Mere seconds later, when Thomas noticed the closet was big enough for a person to hide in, he was set on what he was to do.

I tugged his arm when he reached for something in his pocket.

"Stop. They do have an automatic weapon, like you said. They *will* shoot us if you show your weapon here."

I could practically feel the anger irradiating from Thomas, who seemed to not even hear me, "..."

Despite my protest, he shoved my arm away and took hold of his gun, which he did not get to take out as Sanya made her way into the room.

"Adrian... Adrian is not in his room..." she rested her back against the wall and slid down onto the floor. She covered her face with her knees and cried... Right next to the wardrobe.

"I-I see, let's go look for him, then! There is a killer on the loose!" I got her up and dragged her to the hallway. I also had Thomas begrudgingly follow, but a glint of rage could be seen in his eyes as he stared at the closet.

"Hey, Sanya..." now out the room, I explained to her there was someone in the closet and warned her not to enter the room. She didn't seem to understand me, but nodded for the time being.

I told the two to stay there as I roamed around to look for Adrian, but he really was nowhere to be seen. During my search, I passed through the kitchen and got myself a kitchen knife, just in case.

When I went back, Sanya was crying once more and Thomas was looking at the six bullets inserted into his revolver's chamber. I showed him my knife and the two of us nodded.

I started a countdown, "3... 2... 1..."

And we rushed in. We were surprised when he saw our brother Adrian next to the body, weeping... and holding some kind of rifle, which I could certainly identify as an AK-47.

"You guys!!" he cried out, "Who did this to Thina!! When did this happen?!"

"A-Adrian, where were you?!" Thomas ran to him, revolver in hand, "Look, everything was locked!! The killer must be in the--"

He looked towards the closet but saw it was open. Thomas then slowly turned his head back to our brother, "...When did you get here...?"

Adrian seemed flustered, "W-Well, I... I just got here through the door."

"...I was outside. You never appeared."

"You missed me," Adrian's eyes then went wide, "Wait! You said everything was locked and the key was inside?! This is a locked room mystery!! An impossible crime!!"

"What? No!! The killer is--" this time, Thomas was the one to shut me up by kicking me. He motioned his head towards the open closet. That's when I understood.

"I... I-I see..." my forehead started to get covered in sweat when I realized we were facing our sister's killer, "T-Then you m-must be r-right, A-Adrian..."

I was extremely nervous, but Adrian spoke normally, having seemingly recovered from Thina's death, "What were you going to say, Daniel? You have an idea how this was done...?"

Feeling the killing intent in his voice, I shook my head, "N-No. I-It truly is impossibly, l-like you said."

I remembered Adrian was a fan of locked room mysteries. He had been ever since he was a kid, reading John Dickson Carr, Ellery Queen and several others. We all knew he was crazy on them, but I never would have thought... he would do something like this...

"Alright! Let's get to investigating!" Adrian glanced over the body, "From just a quick glance, I can tell the bullet holes are pretty small, so therefore the barrel length of the murder weapon must be 16.3 inches, the length 34.3 inches, the weight likely around 4 kg and its effective range 352 meters, give or take a few. All of this leads me to believe the weapon was an AK-47. Probably."

There was a complete minute of silence.

"...Aren't you guys surprised by my deduction?"

"O-Oh, y-yes. Wonderful!"

"...Why are you so nervous, Daniel?" he said, pointing to the gun in his hands, "With this toy gun I will scare the culprit away, okay?!"

I could see Thomas' hand trembling, likely hesitating to bring the revolver up to Adrian. Adrian didn't seem to be perturbed by the revolver and calmly turned around to check on the window. When he did, I remembered I had made Sanya go tell Adrian to call the police. Since she didn't find him, she likely didn't do it...

"I... I don't t-think we've called the police yet. T-Thomas, you deal with this," Thomas glared at me for wanting to leave him alone with the killer, but when I pointed to his revolver he seemed to understand.

I ran out and headed to the living room. When I got there, I phoned the police, who informed that they likely would not arrive any time soon as some trees had fallen and were blocking the way to the mansion. I was told it would take around five hours for them to arrive, and was recommended to not confront the killer if they still had a weapon.

I was being forced to stay with my brother for hours, the same brother who almost certainly murdered my sister in cold blood. I had a really strong feeling this would be a horrible experience. And the moment I heard gunshots coming from the room I left minutes ago, I knew that feeling was right.

Without giving it a second thought, I dashed to the hallway and saw Sanya on the floor, covering her ears. I peeked into our dead sister's room and noticed an extra body on the floor: Thomas'... but my attention was brought to Adrian when he used the back of his weapon to break the window glass. Before he turned around, I brought my head back into the hallway.

My heart was beating like crazy, I couldn't believe the only holder of an actual weapon had died... by my brother's hands!

As I stood there, I asked Sanya a question for no reason in particular, "...Did Thomas say something before... before he was shot?"

"He... *sob*, Thomas accused Adrian of killing Thina... and the next thing I hear are gunshots!! I can't believe Adrian did something like this!!"

Now I knew for certain. If there had ever been a doubt Adrian didn't do it, this confirmed it. Adrian killed two of my siblings, for absolutely no reason. He was carrying a very dangerous weapon and would likely not hesitate to kill if he thought you knew he did it. In other words... I have to act dumb.

I took a very deep breath and walked into the room. Adrian had his back turned, but I could see him throwing Thomas' revolver out the broken window.

I didn't make a move until he turned around,

"A-Ah! W-Well," Adrian still had his rifle in hands, "A... A per... Someone entered through the door, shot at us and jumped out the window!"

"Wha... What?!" Sanya had entered the room while I wasn't looking and glared at our youngest brother, "Why aren't you shot, then?!"

"Er... Eh, ah, yes! Thomas sacrificed himself and shielded me from the bullets..." he said, looking at our bleeding, dead brother, "Truly a hero we will always remember..."

"And what about that gun you're holding?!"

"A lighter. A prop."

"A... A lighter?? That's definitely a lie!! Let me check it!!"

"E-Eeh," Adrian slowly brought the barrel up to our sister, but before he fully did so I intervened.

"N-No, no, it's fine," I held Sanya back, knowing for certain she would slip up and call him a murderer if I let her be, "It's fine, Sanya. Believe him. A sixth person we don't know of came in and killed Thomas."

"How can I possibly believe him?! I was right outside, and no one entered the room like he claims!!

"You missed him!" protested Adrian.

"Who do you take me for?! You killed them--"

I covered her mouth before she could yell out the rest and slowly moved with her to the side opposite to Adrian's. From there I said, "Adrian... go outside to search for the culprit. She is just nervous, give her time. Look for the bastard."

He sighed, nodded to me and immediately tried to jump out the window. I say tried, because the window wasn't big enough for him to leave through. After a minute unsuccessfully trying to slip past the tiny space, he sighed and left through the door.

Sanya waited a few seconds after he was gone to quickly and forcefully bring her knee up to my netherlands, "Daniel, what the hell is wrong with you?! That person is not our brother!! He is a murdering fiend!!"

"A-" on my knees, I tried my best to get out an answer, "T- He- A- P-, W-We must make him think we don't know!! Else we're fucking dead!! And was that kick necessary?!"

My sister didn't seem to have heard me, because when I raised my head after having recovered from the hit she was weeping next to our recently deceased brother.

"Look..." I dragged myself to her side, "...You are completely right. He is a cold blooded murderer, but we have to act like we don't know... If we don't, we will..."

"I know, Daniel... I know... It's just... unfair," Sanya looked at me with teary eyes, "Why did he do this...? I don't get it..."

"......I don't get it either... I don't get why..." I glanced out the broken window and closed my eyes to ponder. I kept my eyes like that until I heard footsteps coming from the hallway and into the room.

"I couldn't find anyone..." Adrian scratched his head, holding his 'prop' with the other, "Dammit!"

"What do you mean?! You left 5 minutes ago!!" Sanya justifiably directed her anger towards our brother.

"I didn't find them, alright?!" he looked annoyed, "I just don't like wasting time!"

"...Wasting time? What do you mean?? Finding our brothers' killer is a waste of time to you?!"

"But there's no sixth--" Adrian stopped himself from continuing, likely realizing what saying that would cause, "...Even if I found them, the culprit would just shoot me, wouldn't they? So leave it at that! I don't want to die, either!"

Sanya opened her mouth to say something, but ended up holding herself back. I whispered "Don't make him angry, alright?" to her and got up.

"Anyway..." continued Adrian, "...How do you guys think the killer pulled off this locked room? Everything was locked and the key was in her pocket, wasn't it?! It's impossible for a human!! Wait, what if the culprit is a supernatural being?!"

"...Did I even tell you about the ke--" I forced out a cough, "A-Anyway, it's impossible, as you say. There's no reason to discuss it anymore..."

"What do you mean?! You're saying you don't care about how your brothers died?!" he glared at me, the gun in his hands looking more threateningly than ever... But it was then that I understood what he wanted us to do: theorize.

"R-Right!" I turned to my sister, "S-Sanya, what do you think? H-How did he killer do this?"

It seemed Sanya was too occupied with crying to even hear me... that meant it was all up to me to entertain the sick guest, so I turned back to him.

"Well..." I did my best to avoid the actual answer, "...Suicide?"

"What are you talking about?! The murder weapon was nowhere to be seen and a sixth person appeared with that same weapon to murder Thomas not long ago!!"

"B-But if T-Thina shot herself, then someone stole her weapon and ran off--"

"No!! That doesn't make any sense!!"

"W-What? Why doesn't it?"

"Because it doesn't!! How could the culprit escape through the window?! Not only it was locked, as you saw earlier, I couldn't fit even though I am this thin!"

"Well, since you said the killer escaped through there, they must have been small enough to do so."

"Yes, but...!" Adrian clicked his tongue, "Ugh! That is simply not the answer, okay?! Think again!"

"A-Alright, then..." I did my best to think of something that could possibly satisfy him, "...M-Maybe the culprit used a string to lock the window from the outsid--"

"Agh! No! String tricks suck!!" he held his head and went to the doorway, "...I'll get back to looking for the culprit after all..."

And with that, he left me alone with my crying sister. I heaved a sigh of relief and allowed myself to sit on the bed for a few minutes.

"...I don't understand it....." Sanya kept weeping as she caressed our dead brother's hair, "...Adrian used to be so nice....."

"...People change as time goes by, and it seems our brother turned into a complete psychopath," I got up, "We should have noticed that a lot sooner."

After pondering about our options for a second, I decided to give Sanya my kitchen knife, "...I will get father's hunting rifle, we haven't removed anything from his study ever since he passed... I will be back soon. Stay here, he won't do anything to you unless you try what..." I glanced over Thomas' body, "...he did."

And so, I rushed out. I got into our late father's study and found his hunting rifle being displayed on the wall above his bed. It wasn't loaded up, but it didn't take me long to find some bullets in his bedside table. I charged one up and was ready.

Now properly armed, I left to the hallway and heard several continuous gunshots.

"Don't tell me he...!"

I ran with all my might to Thina's room, eyes filled with anger and finger on the trigger. However...

Sanya was not there.

"...Sanya...? Sanya?! Sanya, where are you?!" I looked under the bed and inside the open closet, but she wasn't anywhere to be found. I quickly figured where she could be, though, "That piece of...!!"

I darted to Sanya's room. When I reached the door, I immediately tried the knob, which unsurprisingly didn't work as the door was locked. I just decided to kick the door down. A few good placed kicks is all it took.

I rushed into the room, rifle at the ready. I saw my sister Sanya dead on the floor with a knife sticking out of her chest. Adrian was also in the room, he had his own rifle in hands and seemed about to enter the open closet.

"A-Ah! Daniel!" he quickly hid his weapon behind his back when he saw me, "The killer stole my weapon and brought us in here... He locked the door, shot Sanya and the next thing I know... he's gone!! He disappeared from this locked room!! And the key is on Sanya, so it truly is impossible!!"

I aimed my rifle at Adrian's head and spoke in a slow and deep manner, "...Sure, I'll humor you. Please, my dear brother, enlighten me on the 'culprit stole my weapon' part, if you will. I thought you said it was a prop?"

"N-No, I meant it was a... a pro... a propessional weapon. That's how I call powerful weapons?"

"...And then you said it was a lighter."

"Because of the muzzle flash, obviously."

"...Then tell me, Adrian... what is it you're hiding right behind your back?"

"An aurora... Ehm, I mean-- You know," Adrian scratched his cheek with one hand, the other still holding the gun behind, "An unpeeled rubik's cube? I tried to solve it, gave up, and unpeeled all stickers. I know you don't like people who do that so I don't want to show you such a horrible thing..."

He said, as the gun's barrel sticked out from behind.

"Show me."

"No."

"Do it."

"Why?! No! And please put that down, it's dangerous!"

"I'm done with you, Adrian!!"

I pulled the trigger and a loud bang followed. I wasn't holding the weapon properly, which resulted in it pushing me back and it falling onto the ground. I also fell on my butt.

As I looked up to the ceiling, I thought... all of my siblings died, I was the only one left... all because of one single bastard with an extra chromosome! Why did he suddenly think killing all of his brothers was a good idea?! Now he was dead because of it, justice had been served, but I had to dirty my hands in the process... I am not sure what the police would think about this situation, as I am now no different from him. I'm a murderer. I just killed him without giving him a chance to fight back. It's justified for me, but I feel guilty. He was my own brother. I took his life with a single movement of my finge--

"What is that prop, Daniel...?" I brought my head down upon hearing my brother's voice and saw Adrian still standing there, still hiding his weapon.

"Wh... What...?" him being unharmed left me completely flabbergasted. There was no hole on his head, no blood anywhere, no nothing, "Just, how...?"

"Ah! I see! You took father's rifle and used his blanks to pull a prank on me!" Adrian then started yelling, "It is not time for jokes, Daniel!! There is a smart criminal on the loose!"

"..."

I slowly crawled towards the weapon I just dropped, trying to comprehend why our father only had blanks in his drawer, but was stopped when I felt a force on my shoulder that brought my whole body to the floor.

"And that criminal... is me!" Adrian grinned evilly as he stepped on my shoulder, "You were all so focused on trying to solve the locked room crimes you never noticed the culprit was in front of you all along...!"

I did not comment.

"But hey, I shall explain to my dearest brother how every murder was committed, as I am sure you are still puzzled on how I made each locked room."

"No, it's--"

"You see, the murders began with Thina. I simply entered her room, woke her up and shot her!!" he laughed, "You wouldn't believe what face she made before dying!! It was pathetic!"

I tried to get up, but Adrian kicked me on the other shoulder which had already been damaged while breaking down Thina's door. Needless to say, that was enough to keep me on the ground for a while.

As I groaned in pain, he continued, "I just hid in the closet, and while you were gone I got out. Of course Thomas never saw me enter, because I was already inside!!

"Speaking of Thomas, he was the only smart one among you. When you left, he accused me of the murder. It was a complete surprise when he began explaining the trick I had used in great detail! I knew he got high grades all thorough school and university, and also specialized on writing mystery books, but I never would have thought he was clever enough to see through my trick! ...A shame he hesitated when he pointed his gun at me. That was what caused his demise."

Thomas... He hesitated...? The two of us were completely different after all. I didn't hesitate to shoot Adrian... But Thomas, he killed our sister!! Why didn't you shoot him right away?! Or at least subdue him?!

.....Actually, why didn't *I* do that?! We were two against one at one point and he had his back turned! I am a complete idiot!!

"Next is Sanya... I never actually left the mansion to "find the culprit", you see. I just took a roam around and went back to the room, finding you had left her all alone. She only had a knife to defend herself with... Now that I think of it, wonder where she got that from. I didn't see it when I first saw her..." Adrian pondered for a moment and kicked my hurt shoulder again, "Ah, well. I just had her move to her room at gunpoint. After making her lock the door, I shot her. Then I stabbed her with her knife for good measure."

After minutes suffering, I finally got angry enough to endure the pain, "You piece of... Why--"

"I'm not done yet!!" he began kicking me until he was exhausted. I held on, and soon enough he continued with his story, "Now, as I was saying, as I proceeded to hide in the closet... you came in. That was not part of the plan. I had to quickly hide my weapon, which you foolishly believed was an unpeeled rubik's cube!"

He took out his gun and fired at my legs. The pain I had felt earlier did not even come close to this.

As I screamed in pain holding my legs, Adrian continued, "In the end, your prank was the cause of your downfall. Really, why would you try to pull off a prank in the middle of a murder mystery?!"

"Y... You... asshole!!!! W...W-W.. We knew.... y-you were the killer...... all alon--"

Adrian did not show any mercy as he shot me with all the bullets he had left.

\--------

"Yes... I pulled it off the 'Ten Little Indians' style! Not a single person knew I did it until the very end!! In fact, they all thought the killer was a sixth person just walking around!!" Adrian stood smiling above Daniel's dead body, his short yellow hair now red because of the blood pouring out of the bullet holes all across his head. The last sibling alive looked at the body before him with pity, "...I always thought you were smart, Daniel. Smarter than Thomas, even! But you failed to solve the mystery in time. Had you been smarter, it wouldn't have come to this."

And with this, Adrian left the room. He went to his room and wrote in a paper what had happened from Daniel's perspective (not mentioning the last bit, of course). After rewriting a few times to make sure everything was readable and to make himself look cooler, he put the gun's barrel against his head. Before shooting, he thought: "I'm sure the police will be baffled as to how the crimes were done, too."

With a loud bang and a person's silhouette falling onto the floor, this tale's curtains close. The culprit didn't quite accomplish their main goal, but as long as they are satisfied with what they have done, I suppose it is fine.

It must be noted, however, that they also failed their secondary goal. As it turns out, unlike this mansion, the police force has a fair amount of smart and competent people who quickly found out he had caused everything.

...Though that was likely because Adrian wrote in his diary what he was going to do, plan included, and left it on his bedside table for everyone to see.

Which means that, thanks to him, the culprit was identified.

Truly a hero we will always remember.

The end.

**Author's Note:**

> Based on a writing prompt: It's seemingly a classic "whodunnit". The twist is, the killer is blatantly obvious, but since he still has the murder weapon, everyone else is acting as if it's a mystery to stall for time until the police arrive.


End file.
